Phoenix Tears
by InimicusTempi
Summary: Hermione plans to marry Ron in 14 days, but Luna has different plans for Hermione's future. Plans that do not involve heartbreak and self-denial. Hermione/Luna
1. Chapter 1

_This plot came to me this morning. I decided to let it grow into a story. Fanfiction needs more Hermione/Luna stories that treat Luna as a real person, after all. I hope that you enjoy it. : ) If my hope is fulfilled, let me know by reviewing. ; P_

_I will try to update everyday for the next two weeks, so the story will seem to occur in real time. _

_Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, Hermione would be paired with someone who was her emotional and intellectual equal. _

Hermione Granger had two weeks left to live. In exactly a fortnight, she would cease to exist and some strange entity called Hermione Weasley would take her place.

Hermione did not want to change her name. While laying out the initial wedding plans, she told everyone that she would stay a Granger, to protest the sexism associated with a bride taking her husband's name.

No one really seemed to understand her argument.

_ "Just think about it, Ginny. You are born with your father's name, with his _label_! The he _gives you away_ at your wedding, and you are given your husband's name."_

_ "But you love Ron, don't you? I don't get this... I thought you loved him."_

_ "Yes, Ginny, I love him. I love him very much. But he'll never own me...I'll never be his _possession_..."_

_ "But you love him!" _

Most people thought that it was that simple. If she loved Ronald, she would take his name. Mrs. Weasley even started crying when Hermione told her; she saw it as a sign that Hermione did not want to be a part of the family.

So, Hermione eventually gave in. A name was only a name, after all. This wasn't half as important as SPEW. She should be less stubborn.

Hermione Weasley would be better. She would be less stubborn, more self-sacrificing, neater, more feminine, humbler, and thinner than Hermione Granger. Ron deserved the best version of Hermione that she could give him.

As Hermione was thinking these things, a large, mangled barn owl nearly crashed into her bedroom window. Hermione chuckled softly; he reminded her of Erol.

She untied the letter from around the poor creature's talons while thinking about what an awful experience it would be to be scratched by such an owl two weeks before a wedding. The bird's nails were longer than any Hermione had ever seen, and as a witch who had been corresponding with witches and wizards across the globe for years, she had seen several.

The letter caused Hermione to shiver before she even read it. It was not an ominous shiver of suppressed fear. It was a nice shiver, a shiver of anticipation, that the small, loopy, familiar-yet-unplaceable cursive had elicited in Hermione.

The note's message did not please Hermione quite as much.

It read: "I am not yor fiance, but I think you are more beautiful than phoenix tears. "


	2. Chapter 2

Here is the next chapter! I have Luna's plan mapped out; she gets to do all of the things for Hermione that I am too cowardly to do for my love, haha.

Hermione groaned as she rose from her bed at 5:30 AM. She loved her job researching human transfiguration for the Ministry, but Monday mornings were still difficult. Also, her coworkers had been asking her so many questions about her wedding and subsiquent lately. It was getting a bit annoying.

"What style dress are you wearing?"

"Where are you going for your honeymoon?"

"Can Ron cook?"

"How many babies do you want?"

Hermione just wanted to concentrate on physiomorphological spell components. She wanted to keep work separate from her personal life, because soon it would be the only aspect of her life that she alone owned. Besides, she did like thinking about her wedding all of the time. Weddings were stressful.

Hermione cast the countercharm to the timed singing charm she had placed on her bedroom door. That spell was a brilliant magical invention, the kind of thing that Hermione wished had been her idea. While waking up would never be a pleasant experience, the timed singing charm woke its target up as gently as possible, by selecting a song best suited to the brainwave state that target was currently experiencing. Hermione was one of very few in the wizarding world who knew that Muggle science had played a role in its invention.

As Hermione stepped in the shower, she shook her head at something she had thought. _No,Hermione, that is positively ridiculous. You are just nervous, just concerned that something will go wrong during the ceremony. Of course you are excited for your wedding! This is all you've ever wanted!_

While she was selecting her robe for the day, her wedding dress caught her eye. It was white, lacy, strapless with a long train. The lace had a rose pattern embedded in it, and the roses were enchanted so that they dropped petals and swayed in response to a nonexistent wind. It was gorgeous, elaborate, almost to perfect to be real. It was sort of like her relationship with Ronald had been perceived, though that of course was real! Anyone who questioned that could witness one of their very real fights, which unfortunately had not ended with the War.

But every couple quarreled. No squabbles, no love.

What really concerned Hermione about the dress was its tiny waist. She could always use a corset charm, or simply enlarge the dress, but those methods felt like cheating.

Hermione glanced at her semi-nude body in the mirror of her closet. She had a tiny bulge over her abdomen. Her thighs did not touch, but did wobble a bit if she moved. Her body felt soft and jiggly, not hard and toned. It scared her to think that Ron would see all of this in 13 days. What would he think? After enduring all of her nagging back at Hogwarts about his eating habits, Ron definitely did not deserve a chubby wife.

Hermione would fit in her dress naturally. She would exhibit such self-control in the next 13 days that she would have to use magic to shrink the dress!

Satisfied with this resolution, Hermione finished getting ready, picked up her bag, grabbed the book she had been reading before bed last night off of her nightstand, and prepared to Apparate.

She had not noticed it until she arrived at work. The cryptic note she had received last night had somehow gotten stuffed between the pages of her book.

She had not particularly liked that note. It seemed that whoever had written it believed that he could compete with Ron. As if! She and Ron had been together since Hogwarts, had been the best of friends for six years before they started dating, had fought Voldemort together, had supported each other through so much...there could never be another for Hermione.

The phoenix tears reference just confused Hermione, which was not something she cared to admit to. She was one of the brightest witches of the era; very few things truly confused her.

Hermione put it out of her mind as she strutted over to her desk to take care of her calculations and paperwork before hitting the lab. She was bright, engaged to an amazing wizard, and, in 13 days, she would be thin. Life was perfect.

After about three hours of taking detailed observations and collecting data, a flying blue ostrich flew into her lab, knocking over a beaker of an exceptionally expensive potion. Hermione was so distracted by the bird that she was not even angered. What sort of wonderfully quirky individual would put flying enchantments on an ostrich? It was brilliant, giving the flightless bird functional wings. It was high-level magic too. It took more than a simple _Wingardium Leviosa_ to get such a great bird off of the ground!

The ostich dropped something at Hermione's feet and quickly exited the lab.

Hermione examined her package. Someone had sent her homemade chocolate peanutbutter fudge. It looked and smelled delicious...of course, this sort of thing would happen just as she had committed to a diet. She would have to give it to someone.

Then she noticed it. Scrawled on the edge of the package, in that same loopy cursive, was a simple message: "Enjoy."

Hermione checked for love potions. She was so surprised when all of her tests came back negative that she decided to have a piece. And another. And just one more.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello, world...I do not want to be one of those obnoxious people who beg for reviews, but I've gotten no feedback so far, and I'm wondering if I should continue this story. If I am going to put forth the effort to share my ideas, I would like to know that someone is reading them! Constructive criticism is very welcome; if you do not like any aspect of this story, let me know._

_ This story has been very introspective so far, but there will be action outside of Hermione's head soon, promise! This chapter actually contains a bit...keep reading and share your thoughts with me. : )_

It was 10:45 AM and Hermione was in her lab, casting aging hexes on dead sheep hearts. She was trying to determine whether the basic magical fiber of these hexes was effective on dead tissue. If the tissue responded even a little to Hermione's spells, she could alter them to enhance their performance. There were times when the Ministry wished to veil the true age of a corpse, for reasons supposedly related to "identity protection". Hermione could see great potential for abuse for such corpse-aging spells, but this research was her job.

She never would have consented to such a project during her Hogwarts days. She had been such an idealist then. Worldly wisdom came with age, thank Merlin.

Nevertheless, she was secretly pleased when none of her aging hexes succeeded to bring forth any changes in the sheep hearts.

Her boss, Senior Researcher Derrick Galton, was not so pleased.

"Now this one has got to work, it's interesting Magic, an Old English incantation even,_Ealda Mann_ ..._Ealda Mann_..._Ealda bloody Mann_!"

Galton's face became nastily contorted as even his most obscure magic failed. His entire body shook, and if Hermione had not been mentored and eventually employed by him for years, she would have been frightened.

Pulling himself back together, he spoke. "I'll be right back, Granger. We'll make this work, oh yes we will...we'll succeed in this and every bloody project we embark on between now and next Easter...they'll give us that grant money, oh yes they will..."

As he left the room, Hermione reflected upon how grateful she was that Galton had not been around when the blue ostrich had made its appearance the day prior. He would have _Avada kedavra_'d that bird for spilling his potion and called it justice...

Hermione had to admit that she admired the Sender's audacity. Only a very brave (and foolish) wizard would chase a witch as cold and intelligent as Hermione days before she was to be married. He was a Gryffindor, she was certain of that. Too bad for him that only one Gryffindor had ever captured Hermione's heart.

Fortunately, Galton interrupted Hermione's thoughts just as she was questioning whether any Gryffindor had ever had her heart.

"Okay, Granger. It's time to get creative. It's time to color outside of the lines." Galton flung a very ancient and thick tome onto the lab bench. Hermione had to make quite an effort to decipher the title, which was written in an elaborate script and had lost letters over time.

Then, she gasped.

"Galton. How did you even come to _possess_ this book?"

"I have connections, Granger. Friends in high places, hee hee!" Galton had been positively gleeful ever since he had retrieved that awful book.

"No. I mean, _why_ do you own...own that...that?"

"For emergencies like this of course. Now, I believe the incantation described on page 1567 will serve us very well, mmhmm, very well indeed. I'll let you do the honors, Granger."

"I am not using any of the magic taught in that book."

"Excuse me, Granger?"

"I'm not doing it! That book is sick, it's foul, it's full of dark magic! I never once would have dreamed that a wizard of your reputation-"

Hermione quickly noticed that she had gone too far. Galton was suppressing his rage to the best of his ability, which was not very well. The entire lab shook with his anger.

"I think it would be best if you took the rest of the day off, Granger. I think you need a short holiday to reflect on your idiotic idealism and what a wizard of my reputation would truly do for the greater good of the Ministry. "

Hermione immediately regretted her decision to speak her mind. Galton was a hair away from giving her a life-long "holiday to reflect on her idiotic idealism". Why couldn't she ever keep her mouth shut? Why couldn't she just learn to set her ideals aside at the proper times, like everyone else?

She apparated to her home in this manner. How would Ron respond, when he discovered that his fiancee may enter the marriage unemployed, unable to help provide for their future family?

It was then that she saw it. Hanging on her wall was a large, colorful poster, enchanted to sparkle. It contained nothing but two words: "Be yourself". When Hermione moved closer to inspect the object, a voice that was not Ron's whispered.

"Because I like who you are."


	4. Chapter 4

_ Hi, everyone! Special thanks to Just twisty and TALLEY LOVES FANFICTION, who let me know that people are indeed reading this story. You each get a virtual steaming mug of the tea of your choice. = )_

_ I am sorry for the late update! Tuesdays are miserably busy for me. I have a 3 hour biology lab and a 2.5 hour band practice. Tomorrow's (today's...*guilty shrug*) chapter will be uploaded before midnight. _

_ The song, "She", is property of Jen Foster, a wonderful singer and woman. You should definitely look her up. _

"Mum, I was almost fired from my job today." It was 3 AM and Hermione could not sleep. She needed to call her mother, who was still her best female friend.

"You were what? Oh, honey. My darling, baby daughter..." Hermione's mum paused for a few thoughtful seconds before continuing.

"How will you and Ron take care of my grandchildren?"

Hermione sighed, softly so as to not transfer the sound through the receiver.

"Mum. I said that I was _almost_ fired. I still have my job. And Ron and I may not even have any children." Hermione had not meant to be so harsh to her mother, but she had had a long day and was annoyed.

The truth was that Hermione was not sure if she wanted to have kids with Ron. Childbirth seemed painful, even with the strongest numbing charms. Ever since she had been been tortured with the Cruciatus curse at the Malfoy Manor, every little prickle effected her. Physical pain was no longer simply physical because it caused psychological agony.

But Hermione could not talk to her mother about that. In fact, she had never spoken to anyone about how horrific that night truly was, or to what extent it still affected her.

Half an hour later, Hermione ended her conversation with her mother and placed the phone back in the top drawer of her desk. She only used it to call her parents, about twice a month. Arthur had been delighted when she let him touch it.

_"Hermione, I am delighted, just delighted, that Ron chose you. He could not have made a better choice. And, now that you are part of the family, we will have to vacation with your parents. Preferably in a Muggle town, where everyone owns one of these fascinating devices."_

Hermione turned from her desk to face the wall opposite it, glaring at the poster that she could not rip, charm, or curse off of her wall. "Be Yourself." What did that even mean? Her own identity aside, Hermione was becoming seriously curious about that of her admirer. She knew that he consistently used advanced magic. He was a Gryffindor. He thought that he knew Hermione, and he apparently really liked who he thought she was. Unfortunately, he had cast a situation-specific version of the Confundus charm on everything that she could have used to identify him. Hermione hated seeing his familiar handwriting while not being able to identify him. He had disguised his voice so well that the charmed poster seemed to have a woman's voice.

He knew where she lived, he knew where she worked, he knew details of her personal life.. a very frightening thought then crossed Hermione's mind. What if he was Galton?

Ew. Hermione had no attraction towards fat, hairy, middle-age wizards who cared solely about their academic reputation. Especially those who had a predilection towards darker magic. No attraction at all.

Yet, she could think of few other talented wizards who knew enough about her. Her only consolation was that, if Galton was indeed the sender, he was most likely making a very poor joke rather than expressing genuine desire.

Hermione slept for two torturous hours before being awoken by a new song.

_"And she-eee means everything to me. _

_She makes me feel that nothing else matters,_

_not even what the world thinks of me..."_

Hermione never cast the counter-charm so quickly. That song, while musically beautiful, did not resonate well with Hermione. She did not recognize the singer, but she could tell that she was female. Lesbian music was not what Hermione needed. Especially not after the dream she had had. The one in which her entire body and mind succumbed to the temptation presented by the thin, scantily-clad blonde whose lips whispered sweet words before smashing against Hermione's, all while dexterous, feminine hands unhinged Hermione's bra.

Hermione reminded herself continuously, as she prepared for work, that it had just been a dream.

She was completely straight, a perfect zero on the Kinsey scale.

She was even engaged to a man.

That had to outweigh the fact that she had been haunted by similar sapphic dreams since she was fifteen.

_ But does your engagement to Ron outweigh everything?_ Hermione could not ignore that every time she had that nightmare of dream, she was with the same girl. It was likewise significant that the girl existed in real life, and that Hermione knew her very well. They had been friends at Hogwarts. She had fought Voldemort alongside Hermione during the War. She was the only Hogwart's student whose intelligence rivaled Hermione's. She was a true Ravenclaw, and Hermione consequently sometimes used to wish that she had been a Badger herself.

Her name was Luna Lovegood, and she was standing by Hermione's desk when Hermione arrived at the Ministry. Her pale blonde hair reached her waist, her deep blue eyes were expressive yet unreadable, and her long, thin fingers were curled around a cup of tea.

She handed the steaming mug to a flabbergasted Hermione, who was disappointedly distracted by someone's adorably dreamy smile.

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! I apologize for the tiny cliffhanger; the action will continue in a few hours. : ) As always, let me know what you think. Those who do may be rewarded with virtual scones. ; ) I would be particularly grateful for feedback and tips on my dialogue. It is one of my largest challenges, and I know that Hermione's mum was particularly unrealistic...don't be afraid to (constructively) criticize me! I am strong; I won't be offended by genuine assistance. _


	5. Chapter 5

Hermione should never have agreed to it. She ought to have just walked away from the temptation. If she were as clever as everyone believed her to be, that is exactly what she would have done.

But she had been distracted, startled, caught defenseless. So, now she had a lunch date (but she certainly did not see it as _that_ kind of date!) today with Luna at 12:30.

Hermione could not stop reliving yesterday morning. She Apparated into the Ministry and strolled towards the lab office. She entered the room, and as she approached her desk, she noticed a figure standing besides it. As she finally got to her desk, she realized that she had forgotten to breathe. She consciously drew in breath, just to notice a scent that had been absent from her life for years. Luna smelled of vanilla, a damp forest, a soapy sort of cleanliness, and something exotic that Hermione couldn't describe.

_"I brought you some tea."_

_ "It's been awhile since we have seen each other, Hermione. It's been nearly a year, hasn't it? I've missed you."_

_ "Are you free for lunch tomorrow, Hermione? We could try the Wizarding cafe down the street. The one that was built to attract Ministry workers."_

Nothing Luna said was particularly unique or witty. Yet Hermione's brain could not stop replaying Luna's words. They enveloped Hermione in a secret, separate world, where everything was roses and crumple-horned snorkacks and there was no one around to scream-

"Granger! You nearly stirred clockwise! What has gotten into you? First you couldn't do the spell work, and now you cannot even brew a simple potion!"

Hermione sighed. When Galton learned that he could not convince Hermione to help him experiment with the sketchier side of magic, he had assigned her to potion brewing. It was intended to be degrading. It was. Hermione felt incompetent, relegated to making potions that could have been mixed by any fifth year at Hogwarts.

She sighed as she nearly cut her mandrake roots with the wrong knife. Potion brewing was so simple and tedious, and she had been so distracted lately. Her only consolation was that she had her lunch break in less than an hour.

_HG/LL? HG/RW? HG/LL? HG/RW? HG/LL? HG/RW? HG/LL? HG/RW?_

Hermione entered the busy cafe to find that Luna had already selected a table near a window. The late summer sun fell upon Luna's hair, causing it to glisten. Hermione crossed over to the table, relishing the simple happiness bubbled through her veins.

"Hey." Hermione was too nervous to think of a cleverer greeting. She prayed that Luna did not notice the excited apprehension in her voice.

"Hello, Hermione. You're late." Luna's distant, dreamy voice could easily have been addressing centerpiece on the table behind Hermione. The slim, cold fingers on Hermione's wrist, however, assured her that Luna knew exactly where Hermione was.

As Hermione felt a warm blush growing across her cheeks, she knew that she had to somehow find a bit of the self-control that she was supposedly so famous for. She was _engaged_ to Ron. She was not a lesbian, and it would be incredibly embarrassing for Luna to suspect that Hermione felt something that, as a heterosexual female, she was incapable of feeling. _Because no matter how giddy I currently am, _Hermione reminded herself, _I am not attracted to Luna_.

"Sorry about that. Galton kept me later than I expected," Hermione replied, once she had finally composed herself.

"Oh, that's not fun, is it? I would personally hate it if my boss kept me late, or would, that is, if I had a boss."

"Forgive me, Luna. I feel terrible for not knowing, but what have you been doing lately? Are you self-employed? I thought that you taught at Hogwarts."

Luna laughed at this. Her laugh was loud, boundless, musical. Hermione had never heard it before, and it hurt her physically to realize that that laugh had always existed. Luna must have kept it hidden and protected inside of her during her Hogwarts days.

"Self-employed! You have the best ways of describing things, Hermione. I had forgotten."

Hermione felt herself begin to blush once again. _No...no..no...what is happening to you, Granger?..._

She counteracted the effect by replying, in a cool and almost Snape-esque manner, "So, how exactly do you occupy your weekdays, Luna? I'm curious." And she was.

"Well, up until last June, I taught Care of Magical Creatures. But I decided last year that, that my life was... was missing something. It was missing adventure. So I've spent this past summer being _self-employed_, writing a proposal to research Magical Ecology in Irish forests." Hermione may have imagined it, but Luna looked somewhat saddened by how Hermione had posed her last question. There was just a slight change in her posture, in her eyes. She looked beautiful, like a wounded unicorn. _Like a crying phoenix?_

Hermione decided to change the subject. She did not want Luna to be sad. She especially did not want to be the cause of her hurt. But Hermione knew that she was over-thinking things; Luna probably had not even noticed the tinge of harshness in Hermione's voice.

"That's very exciting, Luna! I hope that you get your grant. I've had some experience writing grant proposals myself; I'd gladly look over yours if you'd like."

"I may take advantage of that offer. Thanks, Hermione!" Luna sounded genuinely excited, but her eyes still reflected something less than happiness.

"You will not believe what has been happening to me lately. I've been receiving some very queer gifts from an anonymous giver..." Hermione managed to catch Luna's interest with her mystery admirer situation, and the two women spent the remainder of their lunch engagement speculating as to who it could be.

"Well, it would be very inappropriate for Galton to have such feelings towards you, if it is him. I'd say that if it is, you ought to quit your job and come to Ireland with me!"

_Come to Ireland with me..._ but it was "very inappropriate" for Hermione to emotionally respond the way she did to those words.

"Well, it was very nice dining with you, Hermione. I hope you discover who has been sending you these things. Oh, and when you do, tell me! I'd like to know."

Hermione thought that she had heard something flirtatious in Luna's parting statement, but she had been going mad lately. She could no longer trust her own thoughts.

It was not until she was back beside her cauldron that she realized that they had not conversed about her wedding plans. In fact, Hermione had not even thought about Ron during the entire past hour.

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They are lovely and encouraging; enjoy those virtual scones! I've decided that they're chocolate chip. : ) So far, I've written exclusively from Hermione's POV. Would anyone like to read Luna's thoughts? I'm debating whether or not to start including them. _


	6. Chapter 6

"More eggs, Hermione dear? Oh, and you did not finish your bacon yet...are you feeling okay, dear?"

Hermione had requested this day off so that she could spend some quality time with her fiancé and soon-to-be in-laws. Last minute wedding details had to be sorted out, but today was mostly about enjoying each other's company. After breakfast, they were going to floo into Diagon Alley for some window shopping and reminiscing.

"Mum, I think she is doing alright."

Hermione appreciated Ginny answering Molly for her. She had had a mouthful of delicious scrambled eggs, and she preferred to savor them. Having Molly as her mother-in-law definitely was not going to do her waistline any favors.

"Yeah, Mum. I mean, look at her. It's not as if she's wasting away." Ron smiled as laid his left hand on Hermione's right forearm, which was temporarily resting on the table. It seemed almost as if he was trying to discourage her from picking up her fork. Hermione glanced at her fiancé, sending him a fake smile.

What had he meant, "it's not as if she's wasting away?" Had Ron noticed that she had gained weight? Did he think that she was chubby? Suddenly the Muggle jeans she was wearing felt uncomfortably tight. She was disgusting. She needed to try harder...

At the end of the meal, Hermione had a piece of bacon and about four forkfuls of eggs left on her plate. Molly sent her a deeply concerned look; if was obvious that only her greatest measures of self-control were keeping her from voicing her worry again. Ron glanced greedily at Hermione's unfinished food and asked if he could "finish it".

As Hermione walked hand-in-hand with Ron down Diagon Alley, she had the strangest memory._ It was her fifth year, and she felt so insecure. She did not know who she was, but everyone else seemed to know. Everyone else thought that she was brilliant and perfect. So, she studied hard to seem brilliant and worked hard to seem perfect. But she wasn't perfect. She had a secret that she told no one. A secret that she could not admit to herself, and it was slowly eating her from the inside. _

_ Maybe, if she could be thin and pretty like the other girls, she would be good enough. Maybe, if she ate less, she could forgive herself for not being perfect. Hermione never became anorexic, and she never dieted dangerously. She did, however, restrict herself to the point where someone noticed, once. _

_ It was Christmastime, and the last DA meeting last before Vacation had just ended. Hermione had exited the Room of Requirements and was reflecting on the attraction she had observed between Harry and Cho when she heard the light footsteps behind her. And then the soft, esoteric voice-_

_ "Hello, Hermione." _

_ "Hello, Luna." _

_ "I saw you tonight at dinner. I looked over from the Ravenclaw table. You only had a salad."_

_ "Well, yes. I wasn't very hungry tonight, Luna-"_

_ "Well, from what I could see, you did not even dress your salad. You know, Hermione, if you're dieting because you think that you're fat, you're not. You actually have a very nice figure...My common room is down this corridor. Have a nice Christmas, Hermione! Keep an eye out for the Christmas edition of the Quibbler." _

The past few days were so similar to Hermione's fifth year. The same insecurities. The same confusion concerning her identity. The same misguided attraction for the same girl...

Hermione could not deny it any longer. She was attracted to Luna Lovegood. She was...she cringed at the word...bisexual. She always had been. But, she would have to continue to hide it. If her friends knew, if her parents found out! No, her sexuality was her secret.

As she explored Flourish and Blott's, she realized how lucky she was. She was _bisexual_. Not lesbian. She would marry an amazing man in nine days, a man who was funny and attractive. A man whose fingers were currently interlaced with hers, and while he may have a lower estimate of how much time one ought to spend in a bookstore than Hermione, he was a good catch.

" 'Mione, I think we should go now. I told Mum and Dad that we'd meet them at the restaurant at 12:45."

Hermione did not even protest. She simply ran a finger through his sexy ginger hair and thanked Merlin that they were together. This was how she would get over her silly little crush on Luna, by falling in love with the man she belonged to.

And sometime soon, she would return to Flourish & Blott's alone to decide which Theory of Charms textbook to purchase.

She returned home late that afternoon, slightly fatigued from the days events. She had left for the Burrow at 7:15 and it was now 4:30. The wedding was now planned down to the last detail. Molly and Ginny had gotten into a small row over which color the tablecloths would be, after Hermione indicated that she had no preference..which Ginny found unbelievable.

"You're getting married, and you do not even care about how the tablecloths look? When Harry proposes to me, I'm going to insist on lavender tablecloths!"

Hermione chuckled at this within the privacy of her home. She had chosen the right man; what were tablecloths to her? Ahh, Ronald. He was so strong and masculine. Poor Luna did not stand a chance.

Hermione's happy train of thought crashed then. A small, brown owl was making quite a racket outside of the nearest window. She let the creature in, unrolled the parchment, and read the message.

_Hello, Hermione. I really enjoyed dining with you yesterday. Are you any closer to determining the identity of your mystery admirer? I was serious when I said that I was curious! -Luna_

Hermione sighed. She had underestimated her challenge.

_A/N: Sorry for the very late update; I will try to avoid this...Thanks to everyone who provided feedback. = ) I will try to incorporate Luna's POV in later chapters. I didn't think it would be wise to include it in this chapter, as I am tired and Luna deserves my full alertness. ; )_


	7. Chapter 7

Hermione woke up unaided by her timed singing charm. She was ready for today, ready to live her amazing life. She was an intelligent, bold, beautiful woman with a prestigious career in a male dominated field. She was one of the most talented witches in Britain. She had incredible friends and a wonderful fiancé whom she would marry in 8 short days.

Certainly, she had encountered some difficulties at work recently, but Galton couldn't keep a magical scientist of Hermione's caliber brewing potions forever. She had discovered a dark secret about her sexuality, but that was a blessing in disguise. Her bisexuality made her relationship with Ron all the more significant; she could have fallen for anyone in the world, regardless of gender, yet Ronald had no competition.

_That's right. No competition. _Hermione smiled at the thought. Her funny little girl-crush on Luna meant nothing. Ron had no competition. She had answered Luna's inquiry in four short words: "I don't know yet." She did not care about her mystery admirer, or her former attraction to Luna, or anything else that could interfere with her marriage.

Things continued to be exactly as they should be when Hermione arrived at work that morning, even earlier than usual.

"Hello, Hermione. Are you ready for the wedding? 8 days now, isn't it?"

"Good morning, Christopher! Yes, my wedding is in 8 days. It feels sort of like the first day of a new term at school. I'm slightly nervous, but much more excited!"

"Bride-to-be!"

"Miranda!"

"Jacob and I purchased your wedding gift last night. You and Ron are going to love it!"

"Thank you so much; Ronald and I are honored that you and Jacob are attending. Have you decided on a name yet?"

"We're between Agatha and Andromeda...it's a difficult decision." Miranda patted her severely swollen abdomen and smiled at Hermione. "You and Ron had better start thinking of names now."

Hermione was giddy by the time she reached her desk. She grabbed her quill, and while dipping it the ink, wondered how she could have ever been annoyed by her coworker's questions about her upcoming wedding. In a few days, she would be a wife. In the near future, she could become a mother.

Though few knew it, Hermione had always wanted children. She could never be dedicate her life to caring for her children and their house, like Molly, but Hermione deeply wanted children to love, to coddle, to watch through tear-stained eyes as they boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time. Before she and Ron started dating, she had plans to adopt children once she had an established career. During her Hogwarts days, she could not imagine having a husband. She felt extraordinarily grateful for Ron in that moment. Her future children would be biological, and they would have both a mother and a father. Not a single mother, or...shudder...two lesbian mothers.

She proofread her and Galton's entire latest research paper before the latter even arrived. Oh, yes. Today would be a good day.

**As someone who was consistently misunderstood, Luna was no stranger to social disappointment. She had not had any real friends at Hogwarts until the DA formed, but...Luna could not think about that. It was too painful to remember the DA, because that required remembering **_**her**_**, and how she was like the sun, except that the warmth she provided was emotional rather than physical. **

** Remembering the DA meant remembering how Luna used to catch Hermione staring at her during nearly every meeting. This in itself wasn't odd; several people stared at Luna simply because she was different. But Hermione's gaze was kinder than the other's glares. It was as if Hermione was admiring her rather than judging her, or making a joke out of her. **

** Luna did not need to study very much to do well in her classes. She was naturally gifted, another fact that isolated her from the other students. Even other Ravenclaws seemed to think that she was a freak. Despite the fact that she could have mastered the spells she learned at DA meetings without much practice, she would spend hours each week working on them. She wanted to impress Hermione.**

** She had loved Hermione when they were at Hogwarts. Hermione was older, and friendly, and intelligent, but in a more traditional way than Luna was. She was beautiful, but her beauty was not like other girls' beauty. She was just...Hermione...**

** Luna never lost her feelings for the Golden Trio's only female. She never saw any reason to, as she never found anyone who could made her feel so happy simply by crossing her mind. **

**When Luna learned that Hermione was dating Ron, she cried for the first time since she was nine. Just like the last time she cried, someone she loved was gone. Her mother had died a physical death, and her concept of Hermione as a girl whose preferences were similar to Luna's was now also dead. **

** She soon regained hope, however. Hermione was not as emotionally secure as Luna was. When Luna discovered that she was attracted to girls rather than to boys, she smiled and continued living her life. She was already so different from everyone; another factor separating her from the majority made no difference to her. Luna knew, however, that when some people learned that they were gay or bisexual they refused to accept the knowledge. Some people were really mean to themselves because they had never had the opportunity to learn that differences were generally a good thing. **

** Luna soon decided that Hermione must be one of those people, one of those who was painfully denying a piece of her identity. If Hermione were truly straight, she never would have dated Ron. Luna's intuition told her that Ron and Hermione were completely incompatable. The second that Luna decided that Hermione was a closet queer girl, it became her dream to teach Hermione that she was okay the way that she was. **

** But Luna never had the courage to live out her dream. Hermione and Ron stayed together and eventually got engaged while the crack across Luna's metaphorical heart grew larger and larger. It wasn't until two weeks before the wedding date that Luna finally thought of a plan that accomodated her cowardice. **

** Luna sighed the deep sigh of all spurned lovers. It appeared that she was either too late or had been wrong about Hermione's orientation. Hermione was cold to her when they went out to lunch, and the reply Luna's owl brought back last night indicated that Hermione was not even a little interested in solving Luna's riddle. **

** But, Luna promised herself that she would not give up until the wedding. She looked across her messy room at a pink teddy bear she had owned since she was small. No matter how old she became, she never could part with the stuffed toy. It was never too late...**

** Luna arose from her chair, set down the anthology of Irish fairytails she had been trying to read, and transfigured a belt that had been strewn across her floor into a bat. She quickly composed a note, ignoring the fact that a tear had found the parchment and smeared the ink. **

By the time work had ended, Hermione was near tears. Her initial positive attitude had had no effect on how her day had actually gone...

Now she no longer could have a positive attitude. Galton had been in a foul mood, which grew fouler when Hermione suggested he experiment with a spell that wasn't dark. When Hermione's suggested charm managed to succeed in aging the sheep's heart, Galton was so enraged that he did unintentional magic. All of Hermione's potions evaporated and reacted, creating toxic fumes. Nearly the entire Ministry had to be evacuated, and Galton lead everyone to believe that Hermione was responsible.

Then, she got into a row with Ron. Eight days before the wedding, and she and her fiancé were fighting. It was entirely her fault, too...he was sweet enough to surprise her with lunch and she could not keep her fat, opinionated mouth shut about how many times she had told him she didn't like tuna.

Truly, she did not deserve a man like Ron. He was worth three of her, really...he was so sweet and funny and she was a bitch who emotionally cheated on him for a woman...

Hermione knew that today was the sort of day that required an early bedtime. She was too emotionally shattered to accomplish anything useful now, anyway.

A faded pink teddy bear laid on Hermione's bed, by her pillow. Confused, she picked up the foreign object, not neglecting to notice how soft it it was. Then, she saw the note:

"I really wish that I could be cuddling with you right now."

Hermione thrust the bear on her dresser and made her way back to her bed. The last thing that she needed today was another gift from her wacko admirer. If he knew what she was really like, he probably would not bother sending her all of these things.

Hermione lay alone in the dark for about ten minutes before getting up and retrieving the bear. As soon as it was in her arms, she drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Hermione yawned, stretched, stretched some more, and lazily made her way out of bed. Yesterday had been a disaster, but that did not interfere with the fact that today was Saturday. Nine hours of sleep really had improved Hermione's outlook on life. She felt emotionally balanced, for the first time in days. Best yet, she had not had any of those Sapphic nightmares.

As she made her way towards the shower, Hermione had a thought that made her smile. Perhaps she wasn't bisexual. Ah, yes. It was inconceivable to a well-rested mind, on such a bright summer's morning, that Hermione's "feelings" for Luna had ever been stronger than friendly admiration.

Hermione's optimism persisted through breakfast. She reviewed the day's schedule in between bites of sourdough toast, assuring herself that she would finish her errands in time for her dinner with Ron. The date had been planned before the tuna incident, but Hermione had no doubt in her mind that it was still taking place. She and Ron had gotten in so many arguments that they had learned to automatically forgive one another...until the next squabble, at least.

**Luna had had a tumultuous night. She could not fall asleep until two hours after she had gone to bed, and then she woke up every half hour. Her dreams had been like horror films; the only difference was that the danger in Luna's nightmare existed, whereas vampires do not.**

** She had dreamt of weddings all night. Fancy, elaborate weddings. Small, private weddings. Secret elopements. World famous unions...and in every wedding the same couple was taking their vows.**

** "Ronald Weasley, do you take Hermione Granger to be your wedded wife?"**

** "I do"**

** "Hermione Granger, do you take Ronald Weasley to be your lawful husband?"**

** And every time Hermione said "I do", Luna awoke. The psychological pain was too much to bear...**

** Then, Luna had to face the hard truth. She had never before attempted to "get over someone". It seemed to Luna that something as beautiful as love ought to be preserved, regardless of whether the love was unrequited or unappreciated or even misguided. But with Hermione...Luna simply was not strong enough. She was not worthy of loving Hermione, however distantly. However hopelessly...**

** The ugliest problem was that Luna had no idea how to do it. How can someone just stop loving someone who had been her world for years? How can someone simply accept the fact that her greatest, most selfless dream would never be realized?**

Hermione loved Hogsmeade. Even after living as a witch for over a decade, she still felt amazement akin to what she felt the first time she entered Hogwarts Castle whenever she was in an exclusively magical community. The warm summer air warmed her, and she inhaled the enchanted air. Everything was going to be alright.

She glanced at her list. She needed powdered tarantula fangs, beetles, dragon scales, and essence of cloud. Hermione chuckled at the last item. She had written papers on how clouds, while composed of water vapor, had completely different magical properties. It is a curious universe that we live in...

She had just finished buying her potion ingredients when it occurred. As Hermione exited the shop and turned left, she saw someone in her peripheral vision.

She was thin, light blond, and seemed to exude mystery. Her robes were the standard Hogwarts black and bore the Ravenclaw seal. She made eye contact with Hermione and was gone.

Hermione shook her head. She was seeing things. Not even Luna Lovegood could Apparate across space and time.

** Luna could not concentrate on her proposal. She was not even sure if she wanted to do research in the Irish woods anymore; it seemed like a lonely prospect. She then thought of Hermione, and what she would do in this situation. Hermione would dip her quill in the ink and keep writing. So, that's precisely what Luna did. **

** She focused on her work for about forty minutes. With her mind fully concentrated on her work, she was safe. The loneliness was powerless over her if she could only make this one task her entire universe...then. she noticed it. The loop of her cursive "l" was precisely the same size and shape of Hermione's "l"'s. She had even used the same amount of pressure. **

Hermione decided that, in light of recent events, she ought to do her shopping another day. If she was having visual hallucinations, she ought to return home and rest...she wanted to be fully recovered for Ron tonight.

One cup of tea and forty pages of a novel later, Hermione was feeling much better. "Luna" probably had not even been a hallucination; she could have been a current Hogwarts student...a student who wore her Hogwarts robes in Hogsmeade in the summer...

That was when she heard a voice..."because I like who you are." It was that stubborn poster again. Hermione still hadn't managed to remove it, and it insisted on reminding her that she was lovable the way she was. It was quite annoying.

Hermione sat back in her warm easy chair. That voice seemed familiar, despite being magically disguised. But it couldn't be..._she_ definitely was not Hermione's admirer and Hermione did not wish that she was.


End file.
